Is Cristiano Ronaldo not a team player? Ask again

Cristiano Ronaldo did not register a single shot on target against DR Congo. The legendary player, Thierry Henry, went on television and said the team needed to score, not him specifically, implying Ronaldo had been selfish. His sister liked Instagram posts blaming his teammates. It seemed like the internet had already planned his retirement.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, had other plans. On Tuesday night in Houston, Ronaldo scored twice in the first half, and Portugal won 5-0.

The man is 41 years old, and he is still doing this. His first goal came in the sixth minute. A cross from Joao Cancelo, Ronaldo hurried inside the six-yard box and smashed it beyond the goalkeeper.

He screamed. He let out his trademark "SIU" celebration in front of 70,000 people. The roar inside the stadium suggested the crowd had been waiting for exactly this.

His second arrived in the 39th minute. Bruno Fernandes, whose Instagram was flooded with abuse just days earlier, threaded a perfect pass into Ronaldo's path. He slotted it home without breaking a sweat.

After the match, when asked about the records and the critics, Ronaldo said: "Obviously, records are always nice, but my goal is always to help the national team achieve its objectives."

That quote tells you everything about the team player question. The man who was accused of playing for himself, whose fans demanded that his teammates pass to him and nobody else, stood in front of cameras after a 5-0 win and talked about the team's objectives.

He could have said anything. He chose that.

He also became the first player in football history to score in six different World Cup tournaments, a record that puts him ahead of everyone who has ever played the game, including Messi.

That record came not through individual brilliance alone; it came through two goals that required teammates to set him up, find him in space, and trust him to finish.

The drama of the past week, the Instagram chaos, the family feuds, the press conferences, all of it was answered not with words but with two goals and a 5-0 scoreline.

After the match, he was seen shouting, “I am back.” Looks like age has not caught up to the legend just yet.